Arts and Crafts movement, English aesthetic movement of the second half of the 19th century that represented the beginning of a new appreciation of the decorative arts throughout Europe.
The founders of the Arts & Crafts Movement were some of the first major critics of the Industrial Revolution. Disenchanted with the impersonal, mechanized direction of society in the 19 th century, they sought to return to a simpler, more fulfilling way of living.
Origins and Influences: The Arts and Crafts movement emerged in the late 19th century as a response to the Industrial Revolution’s impact on design, advocating for handcrafted objects over mass production and seeking to elevate decorative arts to the status of fine art.
Recognized as an international style of decorative and fine art, the Arts and Crafts movement was initially developed and most fully formed in the British Isles, after which it spread all throughout the British Empire, as well as the other regions in Europe and the United States.
The Arts and Crafts movement emerged during the late Victorian period in England, the most industrialized country in the world at that time. Anxieties about industrial life fueled a positive revaluation of handcraftsmanship and precapitalist forms of culture and society.
The birth of the Arts and Crafts movement in Britain in the late 19th century marked the beginning of a change in the value society placed on how things were made. This was a reaction to not only the damaging effects of industrialisation but also the relatively low status of the decorative arts.
The movement's legacy can be seen in the rise of the Arts and Crafts revival in the mid-20th century, as well as in the ongoing interest in handcrafted objects, sustainable design practices, and the pursuit of a more holistic relationship between art, craft, and society.